by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 2:05 PM ET, Mon August 24, 2026
WHY IT RATES: Butterfield & Robinson join a small handful of travel companies to have attained B Corp status, including Intrepid Travel and Aurora Expeditions. — Lacey Pfalz, Senior Editor, News & Features, TravelPulse
Butterfield & Robinson has spent 60 years building trips around people, place and the communities who welcome its travellers. As of July 6, 2026, that commitment carries an official name: Butterfield & Robinson is now a Certified B Corporation, one of the highest independent standards for social and environmental responsibility in business globally.
B Corp status is earned through the B Impact Assessment, a rigorous, evidence-backed audit that measures a company's entire social and environmental footprint across five areas: environment, governance, customers, community and workers. Every answer in the assessment must be supported by documentation, and the process included third-party interviews and legal requirements.
"This certification validates something we have believed for 60 years: how you travel matters. Slowing down, investing locally and treating people and places with care create richer journeys—and a stronger business," said Mike Scarola, CEO, Butterfield & Robinson.
For B&R, the certification formalizes values that have shaped the business since it was founded. Its own Slow Fund has supported community and conservation projects tied to its trips for more than 20 years, well before "sustainability" entered the industry's vocabulary. That same instinct extends to how B&R operates today: partnering with more than 1,000 local experts and business owners worldwide, investing directly in the places its travellers visit, and measuring the carbon footprint of every trip it runs to offset what can't yet be eliminated.
"It puts us firmly in a movement for positive change—a clear, accountable commitment to using business as a force for good," said Michele Harvey, Sustainability Lead at Butterfield & Robinson, who co-leads the company's sustainability work and the Slow Fund alongside a team of seven. "B Corp isn't a finish line, it's a baseline," she added.
B&R has measured its company-wide environmental impact since 2023, working with an external consultant to keep the assessment independent of its own reporting. That measurement extends down to the level of individual trips, calculating emissions from hotel nights, transfers and meals. B&R's Toronto office is based in T3 Bayside, a building that has earned LEED Gold (Core and Shell) and WiredScore Platinum certifications, is pursuing WELL certification, and is built from 100% FSC-certified mass timber, one further piece of the company's environmental profile. B&R is also a member of The Long Run, a global network of change-makers committed to sustainable tourism.
B&R sees the certification as another step in its ongoing journey rather than an endpoint. Certified B Corporations are required to recertify every three years, a process that will continue to hold the company accountable to its employees, partners, travellers and communities as its sustainability work evolves.
Fast facts:
- Certifying body: B Lab, a global nonprofit
- B Impact Assessment score: 85.1 (minimum required score of 80)
- Assessed across five categories: environment, governance, customers, community and workers
- B&R has measured its company-wide environmental impact since 2023
- B&R's Toronto office is based in T3 Bayside, which holds LEED Gold (Core and Shell) and WiredScore Platinum certifications, is pursuing WELL certification, and is built from 100% FSC-certified mass timber
- B&R's Slow Fund, established circa 2001, has historically directed approximately 5% of annual profits to support local community and conservation projects
- B&R partners with more than 1,000 suppliers worldwide
Learn more about Butterfield & Robinson's B Corp certification here.
SOURCE: Butterfield & Robinson press release.
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